Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to hear there is a whole-of-government approach, as that brings in the national spatial strategy in terms of forward planning. The distribution of public services around the country is most unequal, but I do not need to tell the Minister that because Wexford is a case in point. For example, in terms of local authority staff, County Meath has half the number of staff in County Kerry, yet it has 40,000 more people. Class sizes are considerably higher in commuter belt areas in parts of west Dublin. Garda resources are half the strength in some locations, with County Kildare being the worst. Public service reform must be viewed in terms of having a minimum quality of public services. What we do now is important, but it also requires future planning because one cannot shift people from one part of the country to another in certain categories. The reforms are not visible in terms of equality of distribution, but they must become so.

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